"Where the Goroda flies
under the seven suns,
at the depths of the well
questions and answers shall lie."
This small sentence was engraved into the table, glowing a flickering blue under the light of Corwyn's lamp. Corwyn read over it three times, carefully, in case he had missed something before, but even after that, he still couldn't make heads or tails out of it.
"Is this some kind of prophecy? Or is it meant as a directive?"
He murmured to himself, questioning the meaning behind those words. Either way, at the moment, he had no way of discerning what that inscription was hinting at. The others must have heard him, since they all gathered around Corwyn and started to ask what he was looking at.
"This is some kind of prophecy, I guess, but it's written in somewhat cryptic words!"
Everyone had a look at the inscription, but it didn't take long for them to furrow their brows as well, and they started to understand Corwyn's confusion.
Where in this world are seven suns you can look at? And what kind of well is being hinted at here? Real ones or those out of Arcor? And there are dozens of each of them! How are they supposed to know which well the prophecy is referring to?
Rogar read over it carefully once again. Then he looked at the others and stated:
"I don't have a clue about the rest of these hints, but I know at least one thing!"
"Really?"
Everyone present turned their head towards their leader, eyes full of expectation.
"The Goroda is a rare type of bird that hunts its prey in the desert but has its nest in the southern jungle. They have existed for over a thousand years on this continent and even the great change that happened a century ago didn't manage to extinct them."
Rogar looked back down on the marble table.
"This inscription is hinting at "where the Goroda flies". Although there are multiple locations it can fly to, one destination always stays the same. And that is its nest in the south. So we can assume that this sentence wants us to go south in order to find that place it is describing."
They all gave Rogar's statement some thought, but agreed with him soon after. It's true, if the bird really had one distinct resting place, this had to be the direction the inscription was hinting at. But concerning the rest of the writing, no one had any idea where such a place could be, so they couldn't do anything else but memorize it and look for it at a later date.
Currently, their priority was still to reach the ancient ruins in the jungle deep down south, so they couldn't let themselves be distracted by this, even though it made them quite curious.
Corwyn and the others inspected the chamber in hope of finding something else, but unfortunately, inscriptions in a language not known to them were the only other things they had found after some thorough search. They had no other option but to give up for the moment and climbed back out of the chamber. It took Corwyn some time to get used to the dazzling sunlight again. Once every one of them got out of the funnel, Corwyn turned back and asked Rogar:
"What are we going to do with this place? Are we just leaving it like that?"
Rogar seemed to think about this issue as well, and it took a while until he replied.
"I'm afraid, there is nothing we can really do about it. Hiding it would mean risking that we can't find it later ourselves, but leaving it as it is might lead to it getting destroyed by someone in the future. But since we already know the important words, we should bury it again to preserve it."
Having made his decision, Rogar ordered the sand ability user to bury it in sand again, and a few moments later, there was already no trace of it remaining visible. Once that was done, they began to walk back to the rest of the expedition party waiting for them. But except giving the order to resume marching forward, there was no further explanation given to them. Each person of the returning group was currently deep in thought, trying to mentally digest what they had seen just now and what it could mean.
"Where the Goroda flies
under the seven suns,
at the depths of the well
questions and answers shall lie."
This sentence kept on reappearing inside Corwyn's head. He was trying his hardest in figuring out what it could mean.
(Rogar said that the Goroda always flies to its nest in the south, so the direction the sentence was hinting at should be the south. But where in the south? If the south was just the size of a front yard, it would be easy to find it, but sadly the south was just a general direction, and not a location. That would be the place "under the seven suns", but I have never heard of such a place, nor has Rogar, who has been to many places in the south before. Maybe it is a hidden place like that temple just now?)
The more he thought about it, the more unsure he became of the meaning of the prophecy. There was only one sun up in the sky, and it should be no different down there in the southern jungle. Where exactly could a place exist that had more than one sun? Maybe it was not on this continent, but on a far-off land? But then again, the Gorodas didn't fly further than the southern jungle, as far as they knew of at least.
It seemed like Corwyn could think about it all day long, and he wouldn't get any enlightenment. It pained him inside, but he had to let this mystery rest for the time being, or else, he would get a headache from trying to solve it all day without a rest.
More importantly, it would only be a few days until they reached the next city again, and that would be their last stop before they set out for Corlina. Corwyn remembered the time when he had tried to get some Sancrin-Steel from Corlina in order to forge a sword. Back then, he had complained and sworn without end about how overly expensive the price on the market was and that if he ever came to Corlina, he would buy it for a much cheaper price. It hadn't been even a year since then, but his wish would become reality sooner than he thought it would. Thinking about it made him incredibly excited. He couldn't wait to see and feel the infamous Sancrin-Steel himself and to forge a weapon out of it. Who knew, maybe he could analyze it as well and reproduce it with his ability? It should be possible with his current skill.
As endless possibilities kept on going through his head, a cheeky grin manifested itself on Corwyn's mouth without him noticing. Teo spotted it though and couldn't help but wonder what made Corwyn so happy. They had just received one hell of a riddle for them to solve, and he knew how much Corwyn liked to rack his brain over those kinds of mysteries. Despite that, his friend that was like a brother to him was grinning from ear to ear? He thought it hard to believe.
"Hey Corwyn, what's that stupid grin for?"
Hanaan was a little bit more direct with his curiosity. Instead of wondering he just addressed the topic at hand, without beating around the bush. Corwyn turned his head towards them, his face slightly blushing as he realized that he had indeed grinned foolishly as he daydreamed.
"Have you ever heard of Sancrin-Steel?"
Hanaan nodded in affirmation.
"Yes, isn't that a super rare kind of metal you can only find in Corlina?"
"Exactly! I have never seen it for myself, but Sancrin-Steel is said to be the cream of the crop as far as steel is concerned, and Corlina holds the sole monopoly over it. The prices for it on markets in other cities are over the top, and few people can afford to buy enough for even a single sword. It is the most expensive metal there is. However, in Corlina, it should be available in larger quantities, or at least I hope so, therefore it should be cheaper there."
From a merchant's perspective, what Corwyn said had some truth to it. Hanaan thought about it briefly before he resumed the conversation with a question.
"So it's this Sancrin-Steel that is getting you all excited for? Do you want to buy some of it when we reach Corlina?"
"Yes, I intend to. As a smith, it has always been my dream to forge a sword out of this legendary metal!"
"That's a nice dream and all, but can you even afford it? It might be true that the steel is less expensive in Corlina than elsewhere, but if you think the price difference is like the difference between heaven and earth, then excuse me for saying this, but you're being naive!"
Hanaan's words hit right into Corwyn's sore spot. Indeed, he had been a little bit naive about it, he couldn't deny that. However, he already had an answer to the problem concerning the price.
"I realize it will still be expensive, but as long as I can obtain just a little bit of it somewhere, I should be fine. Have you already forgotten about my ability?"
Hanaan, as well as Teo, were both in a daze for a short moment. As soon as they recovered, their eyes already went wide.
"Wait, you can't mean..."
"Does that mean..."
They didn't end their sentences, and Corwyn showed them a bright grin like before and replied:
"Yep, exactly what you guys are thinking about. I intend to analyze and copy the Sancrin-Steel, and then produce it on my own. Ain't I awesome or what?"
Both Teo and Hanaan remained at a loss at what to say to Corwyn puffing out his chest, smiling proudly. Eventually, they managed to voice out a single sentence, and both of their voices were completely synchronized when they shouted out:
""This is bullshit, utter, nonsensical, cheating bullshit!""